The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest has extended the public comment period for its draft forest plan. That plan will guide the Forest’s land use decisions for the next 15 years.
Forest spokesperson Kathy Bushnell says the original 90-day comment period was extended by one full month.
“The original deadline was September 6. We received a few requests to have a bit more time for people to compile their comments, so we extended it for about another month.”
The new deadline is now Tuesday, October 9.
The Helena-Lewis and Clark Forest only received about four requests to extend the comment period.
“As long as it’s fair and it doesn’t change an entire project’s timeline, we’re able to be a little more flexible,” Bushnell says.
Even with the extended comment period, the final EIS for the Helena-Lewis and Clark Forest plan is still on track to be issued next spring.
Bushnell says about 200 comments have been submitted so far.
